Be empathetic
Your staff need to know that you understand what they are going through. In a crisis, this means becoming clearly and more obviously interested in your staff. Follow their moods, pay attention to what they are saying and what bothers or interests them. In this way, you will be able to predict and respond directly to their fears and needs, even if you may have no specific solutions or answers at hand.
Separate facts from fiction
Prevent your staff from being disturbed by false or misleading information. If such rumours are already spreading at your company, ascertain the source. If employees themselves are creating unfounded assumptions (whether optimistic or pessimistic), find out on what they are based and help to create a more realistic picture.
Hold on to the role: an optimistic realist
Focus staff on facts that are unlikely to change. Do not embellish the situation, otherwise you will lose their trust; rather help them to see areas and activities in which they can make a positive contribution.
Refrain from exaggerated emotions
The crisis is causing many people to experience mood swings: one moment everything looks black, then it begins to clear again. Your task is simply to stay calm. Try to achieve the right balance. If you are too emotional, you will find yourself on thin ice. On the other hand, if you are too calm, others will think you are not taking the crisis seriously.
Focus on what makes sense
No matter how bad things look, you have to fight, if only to resolve certain issues to your own internal satisfaction. Find out which battles you still need to win and thus at the same time help your staff.
Think in the short term
Although many lament that businesses have too much short-term orientation, a crisis is a time when it makes sense to focus on what can be done immediately. Together with your staff, deal with the question of what to do next week, in the next two weeks, in a month.
-bb-